The Songstress and the Thief
by Reflecting Dreams
Summary: Five years have passed since the defeat of the White Witch, and Esther's life has calmed down since she settled into the business of taming familiars. But what happens when a certain thief reappears in her life and brings the fire that she oh-so desires? EstherxSwaine (May contain game spoilers!)


Esther jogged back to Al Malmoon after a long day of taming familiars. The world had been peaceful ever since Oliver had overcome the White Witch (but he always insisted that it was all of them together who saved the world, and wouldn't hear of anyone saying otherwise). Wild creatures still liked to cause trouble though, and bounty hunts popped up with surprising frequency. Ever since the ban on magic was lifted, more and more people wanted their own familiars for protection as they ventured out to visit other cities. Travel was also much more common ever since the alliance was officialised between the three capitals.

It has now been many years since Oliver first came to their world. He still visited a lot, but frequently went back to Motorville. Sometimes he wouldn't visit for months at a time- he was going to school to learn about motorcar engineering with Phil. Sometimes Esther would get lonely when she needed someone to confide in, but she got along well enough with the company of her father and her familiars. She had a hard time making friends with other girls her age on account of her reputation from her adventures, but the widespread recognition was good for her business. She tamed familiars for start-up wizards, as well as picking up some bounties on the side.

She ran into her house and greeted her father. He smiled as she began to gloat about her success in catching some particularly rare and powerful familiars, but cut her off. "Esther, Swaine's here too! Don't be rude- it's been a while since you saw him, hasn't it?"

Esther flushed. It _had_ been a while, and in her eagerness to impress her father she had not noticed the smirking thief leaning up against the doorframe to the kitchen. Worst of all, he would definitely tease her later about her bragging habit.

Swaine spent most of his time in Hamelin since Oliver left, helping Marcassin with his royal duties. Marcassin, in return, was determined to turn Swaine into an eligible bachelor. Under his brother's care, Swaine was becoming more handsome- his eyes weren't as puffy, his frizzy hair was a little more under control, and he was starting to look his age rather than a decade older. The years he spent on the street still took their toll, however, and Esther suspected that he could never fully regain the potential that she saw when he was a handsome teenager.

"Why is_ he_ here?" Esther sounded a bit more accusing than she intended to as she tried to cover up her embarrassment.

Swaine mocked her, acting offended. "I'm hurt, Esther. After all this time we've spent together, you can't manage a nice, 'Hello Swaine! You look particularly dashing today!'"

Esther's face grew redder, and she scowled. Her father laughed. He was fond of Swaine, and they got along well. He even usually took Swaine's side over his daughter's when the two were bickering.

Swaine smirked at her embarrassment and returned into the kitchen, calling, "I'm packing food for our trip, speak now if you fancy anything in particular!"

Rashaad explained to Esther, "We've got word that Oliver's back! He's gone to visit Mr. Drippy in the Fairyground, and you're to meet him in Ding Dong Dell. Swaine just stopped here on his way over- the trip will be long and dangerous since Tengri is with Oliver."

Esther smiled, her past embarrassment forgotten in her excitement. "Oliver's back?! That's great! He hasn't been over here for almost half a year- oh, I do miss him!"

"Oh, so HE gets the royal welcome, and I'm treated like last night's table scraps, am I?" Swaine called out from the kitchen. Esther blew a raspberry in his direction and heard him chuckle from the other room.

"Oh, before I forget, Esther…" Rashaad drew his daughter's attention back to himself. "Cyrus was here, asking after you again. He left you a letter."

Esther took the letter from her father hesitantly. Rashaad saw her reluctance and looked earnestly at her. "You're already 20 years old, Esther. He's a good kid; you would do well to consider him more seriously."

Esther glanced over and caught Swaine looking over through the door-his face held an unreadable expression that she almost thought was concern. He quickly dropped his gaze before she could decipher it and continued packing. Esther looked back at the letter in her hand. The script on the front was written elegantly: 'To Esther'.

"He writes beautifully, but his speech is less eloquent," she eventually responded to her father.

"That's because he's smitten by you!" He laughed. "You know I won't force you into a marriage -I'm just saying you should consider him. He's much more persistent than the others!"

Esther sighed. Cyrus definitely was more persistent than all the other boys who flocked to confess their love for her- and there had been many ever since she had grown out of the awkward stage in puberty- but that didn't make him more desirable to her. Whenever she saw him, she felt nothing. The ever-important chemistry was missing, and she wouldn't settle for anyone who couldn't make her feel like she was on fire.

Esther thanked her father for passing on the message and excused herself to her room to pack for the trip. She dropped the letter onto the bed and put off opening it, but her eyes kept returning to it. She sighed, flopped on her bed and tore the top off the envelope. As she had expected, it contained beautiful, meaningless words that perfectly expressed his love for her, as he flattered her with words describing her incredible beauty and skill as a familiar tamer. All it told her was that he was in love with the image of her, not who she truly was. She sighed again.

She was about to put it away, but someone knocked on her door and she heard Swaine call out briefly before entering.

"Esther, I'm supposed to tell you that dinner is ready-" Swaine paused as he saw what she was holding. "What's that then?"

"It's a letter."

"From who?"

Esther hesitated before answering, not sure if she wanted to tell Swaine of her not-so-secret admirer. "…His name is Cyrus."

"Who's that? Your boyfriend or something?" Swaine smirked, but subconsciously crossed his arms as he took a defensive stance.

Esther blushed despite herself, and Swaine's eyes widened slightly at her response. "Wait- don't tell me he's _actually _your boyfriend?" He sounded a little more desperate than he had intended as he said this.

Esther misinterpreted his tone as disbelief, and anger overcame her. "He's not." Swaine relaxed at this, but Esther wasn't finished. "But so what? Is it really so unbelievable that I would be dating someone? Do I really seem that undesirable? I'll have you know I get lots of confessions from boys- tons, even! And anyways, I'm already at the marriageable age in Al Malmoon- half of the girls my age around here are already married! I'm not that little 15 year old girl anymore, Swaine." She stood up and roughly pushed past him to exit the room, but not before harshly stating, "I've grown up, and so should you!"

Swaine watched her leave, frozen in shock by her outburst. The gravity of her anger hit him after she was already in the dining room, and he looked down, covering his eyes with his hand.

"Dammit."


End file.
